No. 25 Pitt wrestling routed by No. 12 Arizona State

The Pitt wrestling team continued its difficult non-conference schedule with a test against No. 12 Arizona State. This, of course, came right after a loss to No. 18 Wisconsin on Friday. Pitt didn’t fare any better Sunday with an ugly 32-6 loss to the Sun Devils.

As was the case against the Badgers, the Panthers didn’t pick up many wins against Arizona State. To be fair, the Sun Devils boast five top ten wrestlers in their starting lineup so half of their guys are elite. But Pitt only got wins out of Nick Zanetta (141 pounds) and Kellen Stout (197 pounds) and you’d like to see them be a little more competitive.

One bright spot is that many bouts were close. Taleb Rahmani, Gregg Harvey, and Ryan Solomon lost by a total of only eight points. But you’ve still got to find a way to get a few more wins.

Pitt did get Austin Bell back (174 pounds) on Sunday but continues to miss the starters at 125 pounds and 133 pounds in L.J. Bentley and top ten grappler Dom Forys, respectively. I’m not sure where Forys is, in particular, whether he’s injury or if there’s more going on. But until they get those guys back into the lineup, Pitt just isn’t going to be real competitive against the better programs.

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